“The world laughs in flowers,” Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote. If that is true, then Mother Nature is laughing hysterically right now all over Michigan. Yes, it is that time of the year, and it seems like everything is in bloom. But beautiful landscaped gardens don’t just appear magically overnight. They take hard work and, often, lots of money. Still, you don’t have to go into hock to grow the perfect garden oasis.

The truth is, it doesn’t have to cost you a lot to make your garden gorgeous, says Sue Williams, the Frugal Gardner. “Most of my plants are from somewhere else, and I haven’t paid any money for them. I’ve traded for them, and I’ve scoured them up from places,” Williams says.

One of her favorite places to find free plants is online at popular sites such as craigslist.com and freecycle.com. At sites like these, you can post blogs, ask other gardeners specifically for what you need, or ask other gardeners what they want to get rid of. Either way, get ready for a huge response.

Williams says, “Don’t put your requests in on a week when you have anything else to do, because you’ll be driving all over town picking up plants. Many times, I’ve been able to just open up the back of my van and gardeners will just fill it up in minutes because they’re going to throw those plants away anyway.”

Another good way to get plants inexpensively is to join a gardening club. Often times, these clubs have regularly scheduled plant swaps in which you trade for the best others have to offer.

“You give them what you don’t want; they give you what they no longer like; and it all works out beautifully,” Williams says.

One other way to grow the size of your garden on a budget is to divide your perennials and trade them with other gardeners; and try setting up a “seed swap” with your neighbors.

Williams says she spends less than $100 a year on her garden, and most of that money goes for expensive compost.

source : detnews.com